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“I’m leaving, Bennet. And there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.” The lion-kin started limping toward the fence again, ignoring the prince’s existence as if he would walk right through him. The shell followed at his heels like an obedient dog.
“Actually, there is something I can do,” Colonel Bennet said. “But there’s something else I want to do first.”
The lion-kin paused, golden eyes narrowed, fangs showing in a contemptuous snarl. “What’s that?”
The Colonel turned his back on the lion and took three long strides away. Liliana thought it unlikely that either Periclum or Bradley were close enough to see the prince’s hands tremble from the effort of the powerful magic he’d used to make the earth itself move in such a carefully controlled manner.
Detective Jackson drove to Doctor Nudd’s house and walked with Liliana to his lovely hand-carved front door at the same moment the prince walked away from the lion.
Liliana remembered to say, “Hello,” as required, when Doctor Nudd and Siobhan welcomed them, but most of her attention was on the battle of wills taking place back on base.
Colonel Bennet turned back to the lion-kin to continue the conversation. “Someone warned me not to stand too close.” In a louder voice, which would carry to the fence, he shouted. “Look out!”
Andrew Periclum looked around puzzled and finally noticed the shell at his feet.
The shell exploded.
Dirt, flame, and shrapnel flew in every direction. Burning bloody pieces of the pride-king rained down as far away as the fence.
Colonel Bennet raised his arms to shield his face. His uniform got some mud and blood splattered on it, but the Fae prince was unharmed.
The explosion was loud enough that Liliana heard it from Doctor Nudd’s front porch a few miles away.
Liliana bounced on her toes and smiled with fangs. She was tempted to shout, “Yes!” and punch the air like Siobhan would.
Her friends all looked up curiously at the sound.
“What was that, Lilly?” Pete asked.
“Andrew Periclum is dead,” Liliana said, careful to keep the prince’s secrets. “He encountered an unexploded shell on the testing range.”
Siobhan jumped up, put a fist in the air, and pulled it down. “Oh yeah. Now, this really is a celebration.”
The handsome prince of shadows commanded both earth and fire within his bonded domain. Liliana suspected that not everyone understood the implications of that power on a firing range littered with old explosives.
Clearly, the pride-king had not.
As far as the lion-kin champion watching from the fence, Bradley, knew, the Fae prince hadn’t come anywhere near his king. Colonel Bennet had even shouted a warning just before Periclum died in an unfortunate accident.
The beast-kin community would have no reason to find fault with the Fae prince.
Clever, fierce, and deadly.
All intensely attractive traits.
And also, all very dangerous traits.
The prince would make a formidable ally, or a fearsome enemy. If he would be a good king, then one day, he might become a great king.
As she watched from the shelter of Doctor Nudd’s welcoming living room with the old grandfather clock and the crackling fire, the violent storm outside faded to a gentle, soaking spring rain. The spider seer considered what she should do next.
She no longer simply drifted through her days.
Liliana had friends. Friends made the days and nights come alive in brilliant colors.
Nudd brought out a bottle covered in dust, brushed it off with great fanfare, and broke the red wax seal. He poured some in glasses and made sure everyone had one.
Friends were worth any price, even if the price might be the spider-kin’s own life.
